_Meleagris_, LINNÆUS, Syst. Nat. 1735. (Type, _Meleagris gallopavo_,
LINN.)
[Illustration: ¼ ¼ ¼
_Meleagris gallopavo._]
GEN. CHAR. Legs with transverse scutellæ before and behind; reticulated
laterally. Tarsi with spurs. Tail rounded, rather long, usually of
eighteen feathers. Forehead with a depending fleshy cone. Head and the
upper half of the neck without feathers. Breast of male in most species
with a long tuft of bristles.
Species and Varieties.
=M. gallopavo.= Head livid blue, legs red, general color
copper-bronze, with copper and green reflections, each feather with a
velvet-black margin; all the quills brown, closely barred with white.
Tail-feathers chestnut, narrowly barred with black; the tip with a
very broad, subterminal black bar.
Tail-coverts dark purplish-chestnut throughout, with the tips not
lighter. Tip of tail-feathers scarcely paler chestnut than the
ground-color. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States …
var. _gallopavo_.
Tail-coverts chestnut, the tips much paler, sometimes almost white.
Tip of tail-feathers light brownish-yellow or white; sometimes with
the coverts broadly whitish. _Hab._ Southern portion of Western
Province of United States, from Texas to Arizona. Table-lands of
Mexico, south to Orizaba, Mirador, etc. …
var. _mexicanus_.
The _M. ocellatus_[113] of Honduras and Yucatan is a very distinct
species, and one which vies with the _Phasianidæ_ of Asia in the
brilliancy of its coloring. It is very rare in collections, and has a
very restricted distribution.
Meleagris gallopavo, var. _gallopavo_, LINN.